


Oh You Make Everything Okay

by FemaleSpock



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Anal Sex, Codependency, Coming Untouched, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Hux's backstory (referenced), M/M, Post-Battle of Starkiller Base, Snoke doesn't ship it, Soft Kylux, Unhealthy Relationships, but like dark soft kylux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:17:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7621672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemaleSpock/pseuds/FemaleSpock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo rests his head against Hux’s chest, lying on top of Hux. He’s so heavy but Hux can’t complain. He strokes Kylo’s hair, smoothing the dark waves softly with his hand. It’s a familiar motion. Kylo’s muscles start to relax – Hux can feel the change in the body bearing down upon his own. There’s something amazing about having such power over this man.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Kylo needs Hux; Hux needs to be needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh You Make Everything Okay

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song 'My Demons' by Starset Society.

Hux walks into Kylo’s quarters, prepared for any strange sight to greet him because you never know with Force-users. What he does see is surprisingly normal: Kylo lying in bed, propped up by pillows. There are dark circles under his eyes that look all the more pronounced against his pallid skin. The scar that bisects his face is an angry red. His heart clenches in uncontrollable pity. He finds his mind flashing back to finding him there in the snow. Despite everything, he had wanted to take Kylo in his arms and carry him back the shuttle himself but he knew he didn't have the strength to lift him. So he had ordered the Stormtroopers to carry him back to the ship and watched helplessly as the medical droids started their work. It’s a foolish way to think about one’s enemy but since he’d first seen his expressive face, it had been difficult to think of him that way at all.

 

“General.” Kylo presses his weight against his hands, as if to haul himself out of bed.

 

Hux’s hand flies up to signal him to halt. “Don’t move on my account. You don’t look in any condition to be out of bed.”

 

Multiple expressions flit over Kylo’s face and he seems torn between anger at some implied insult and gratitude for Hux’s apparent care for his wellbeing, though Hux thinks he deserves neither: he’s just speaking the truth.

 

“Why did you want to see me?” The invitation to Kylo’s room is highly unusual. In fact, it’s a first. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about Kylo’s quarters – but for the husk of a helmet sitting in a tray of ashes it could be any room on the Finalizer – but the mere fact of being in Kylo’s room feels oddly intimate. It feels particularly wrong to be standing next to Kylo’s bed with Kylo lying in it.

 

“I want you,” says Kylo.

 

“What?” The words are so blunt that Hux is sure he must have heard wrong.

 

 Kylo looks up at him with large, dark eyes. “I’ve wanted you for so long, General. I know you feel it too. Just give in.”

 

He had considered it of course, thought about shoving Kylo up against a wall after a particularly frustrating meeting, ripping the mask off, and pushing their mouths together. But he’d decided against it. Too messy. Too little reward for such great risk. He imagines the two of them battling out for dominance, all blood and sweat and come. Though the image isn’t without appeal, it’s a battle that could only end with his own loss. Even putting aside his use of the Force, Ren has the advantages of size and years of battlefield training and Hux has no desire to submit to him or any other man.

 

He injects ice into his voice. “I think you must be more injured than either of us realised. I will do you a favour and pretend that this never happened. Now do you have any other business you wish to discuss? I am quite busy rebuilding after last week’s disaster.”

 

Kylo’s mouth twists into a smirk. “I know a mask when I see one. You feel something for me – I could feel it when you rescued me.”

 

There’s no point denying the accusation. It’ll only look like he cares. “Well, if that’s all.” He strides toward the door as quickly as is possible without making it look like he’s fleeing.

 

“No, please!”

 

The crack in Kylo’s voice stops Hux at the doorway.

 

“I need you,” Kylo persists. His eyes are so wide and Hux can see the threat of tears in their shininess. “Hux, I need you.”

 

It pulls on Hux enough that he wanders back over and sits down on the chair beside Kylo’s bed. He tells himself he’s only entertaining the idea to discover some weakness on his co-commander, that he might as well assess the situation thoroughly before making a decision. “What do you need?”

 

He tries not to hold his breath as he waits for Kylo’s answer.

 

“I need your strength.” Kylo grasps Hux’s hand in his own. The comparison of Kylo’s huge hands with his own slender fingers should make him feel overly delicate but something in Kylo’s tight grip makes him feel powerful. “I’ve been weak but that changes now – with your help.”

 

“What do you think I could do?” It’s a genuine question: he’s no mystical Force-user and Starkiller was just as much his failure as Kylo’s. He’s barely keeping his own head above water.

 

“You’re not afraid of me. You’re not even afraid of the Supreme Leader. You’re faith in the Order it’s…it’s incorruptible, unwavering. I need that. Hux, I need you.”

 

He looks up at Hux and it takes Hux a moment to realise that he’s waiting for his answer. “I can help you.”

 

Kylo takes Hux’s chin with his spare hand and drags him into a kiss. Hux finds himself scrambling onto the bed, pulling away for a moment to adjust his position. He’s straddling Kylo, his legs caging Kylo’s body. Hux surges down, catching Kylo’s mouth in another kiss. He grasps at Kylo’s wrists, pinning them down into the soft mattress. Kylo gasps against his mouth and Hux revels in it for just a moment before pulling back.

 

“You need your rest,” he says, to answer the question in Kylo’s eyes. “There’ll be time for more once you are healed.”

 

Kylo beams at him and Hux finds himself turning away, removing himself from his position atop Kylo. The medical instructions sitting beside Kylo’s bed offer a reasonable enough excuse to look away, so Hux reads through them, checking the details thoroughly. “It says here, you’re supposed to take the blue pill at midday. Have you had it already?”

 

Kylo shakes his head. Between his expression and the suspiciously full packets of all the pills the doctor has provided, Hux suspects that he has no intention of taking the medicine. Hux wonders whether it is a side effect of his training that he spurns modern medicine – perhaps he believes that the Force will heal him, or perhaps he’s just drawn to pain. Whatever the reason, it needs to stop.

 

Hux pops the pill out of its packet and places it in Kylo’s palm. “Take it now.”

 

“But-”

 

“You’ll recover faster if you do. You said you wanted strength – start with taking proper care of yourself.”

 

Hesitantly, Kylo puts the pill against his tongue. Hux hands him a glass of water.

 

“Swallow.”

 

Kylo puts the glass to his lips and drinks down, showing Hux his empty mouth when he is done.

 

“Well done,” says Hux, stroking Kylo’s hair. He’s wanted to touch it for a while and it’s just as soft as he had imagined. “I’m going to make sure you get better, trust me.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

He makes sure that Kylo takes all his meds after that, checking in on his several times a day and he swears he can see the improvements hour upon hour. Every time he goes to leave to get to his other duties, Kylo tugs on his arm and asks if he really has to go.

 

He feels himself glow every time he reassures Kylo not to worry, that he’ll be back shortly. It adds steel to his backbone and he finds himself breezing through his shifts, no longer the dead-eyed wreck he was in the immediate days after Starkiller’s destruction.

 

The galaxy is within his reach. They’re going to win. He’s going to win.

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m almost completely healed,” Kylo says one day, whilst Hux was doing his normal check-up.

 

Hux surveys him and has to agree with this assessment. He does look quite the picture of health again. A nagging voice inside him tells him that he knew that this was coming, that Kylo will have no use for him now that he’s recovered from his injuries. He’ll be strong enough to stand on his own. _It’s a good thing_ , Hux tells himself. “Yes, you are,” he says, lightly.

 

Kylo smiles. “It’s all thanks to you. You were right about the medicine.”

 

Hux’s mouth twitches. “I’m always right.”

 

Kylo twiddles with a strand of his hair for a moment, turning his head to stare out of the viewport. Hux’s heart plummets and he wonders whether Kylo expects him to leave.

 

“If that’s all-” Hux says, stiffly, straightening his uniform.

 

“No!” Kylo blurts out, head snapping around to look at Hux. “It’s just- You said when I was better, we could…You said there’d be time for more once I recovered.”

 

Hux blinks. Right, he had said that. He had spent so much energy nursing Kylo back to health that it really had been the last thing on his mind but Kylo really does look strong enough now. “If that’s what you want. I don’t want to pressure you,” he says, though Kylo looks anything but reluctant, all flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

 

Kylo nods.

 

“Lie on the bed then,” Hux finds himself saying.

 

Kylo does as he says and Hux moves to join him, biting softly at his lips as they kiss endlessly. It isn’t long before Hux can feel Kylo’s erection pressing hard against his thigh. Kylo’s bucking under him now, rubbing his body up against Hux’s and Hux can just feel his desperation.

 

Hux detaches from Kylo and surveys him, feeling oddly feverish. “So beautiful,” he murmurs and watches as Kylo’s whole face brightens at the praise. Hux snakes his hand down to the bulge in Kylo’s trousers and feels Kylo practically jolt at the contact. “I’m going to take care of this for you, okay?”

 

Kylo inhales sharply. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he says and he looks a little feverish himself. “So many nights, I’ve needed your touch…”

 

“Well, now you won’t ever be without it.” Hux unzips Kylo’s trousers and pulls them down, freeing his cock. It’s an impressive size, larger than Hux’s own, but the temptation to feel inadequate dissipates with Kylo’s gasps when Hux takes him in hand. Hux starts to work the length and Kylo thrusts up into his hand. Hux puts his other hand to Kylo’s chest, pressing down lightly. “Just lie back.”

 

Kylo stills and Hux increases his pace in reward for his obedience. It’s only minutes before Kylo is coming, groaning Hux’s name obscenely loudly and Hux comes himself at the mere sound of it.

 

He flops over to lie on the bed, trying not to think what a mess he’s made of his uniform.

 

Kylo wraps his arms around Hux, peppering kisses on his neck. “I needed that, thank you.”

 

“I should go shower – I have a shift in twenty minutes.”

 

“Stay with me for a while,” Kylo begs. “If you leave now it’s like-”

 

“Alright,” Hux says before Kylo has the chance to finish. In truth, he feels too weightless to move anyway. It’s almost as if he could float off the bed.

 

“Was I okay for you?”

 

It strikes Hux as an odd question, considering, but Kylo sounds so serious about it that he knows better than to laugh. “You were wonderful, Kylo.”

 

“I want your mouth on me next time,” Kylo says, hopefully. “I watch your speeches sometimes and the thought of it…”

 

Hux smiles. “Next time, then.”

 

In the end, he doesn’t have time to shower and settles for changing his trousers and underwear in a flurry, making it to the bridge just in time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The doors to his quarters open during the middle of his assigned sleep cycle, the swishing sound startling Hux right out of sleep and into defence mode.

 

“I’m sorry to wake you,” a mournful voice comes and Hux realises that it belongs to Kylo. “I can’t sleep. My head – it’s flooded with memories. Memories of Solo-”

 

_The Resistance Fighter?_  Hux’s mind is foggy from sleep but he’s sure there’s something about that he’s missing. But now doesn’t feel like the time for an interrogation. “Come here. Get into the bed with me.”

 

He’s over there like a shot, crawling under the covers and snuggling close to Hux. Kylo rests his head against Hux’s chest, lying on top of Hux. He’s so heavy but Hux can’t complain. He strokes Kylo’s hair, smoothing the dark waves softly with his hand. It’s a familiar motion. Kylo’s muscles start to relax – Hux can feel the change in the body bearing down upon his own. There’s something amazing about having such power over this man.

 

“Is that better?”

 

“Yes but-” Kylo cuts himself off abruptly.

 

“Do you want to tell me about the memories?” Hux prompts, gently.

 

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone. The Supreme Leader has forbidden it,” Kylo whispers. “But I – I can trust you, can’t I? I know you won’t betray me to him.”

 

“Yes,” Hux says, distantly wondering what this secret could possibly be. “You can tell me anything.”

 

It all comes out in a rush. “Han Solo is – was…he was Ben Solo’s father. Believe me, Ben Solo is dead but sometimes, his memories they…I feel regret. I had to do it. Snoke told me it would make me stronger but I’m being torn apart!”

 

 It takes Hux a moment to sort through the incoherence but the realisation hits him hard. “You were Ben Solo? Son of Resistance General Organa?”

 

“Yes,” Kylo hisses. He’s shaking. “I killed him when I became Kylo Ren but still he haunts me!”

 

It occurs to him that this really is a big secret, that Kylo really must trust him to share it with him. If it got out, who knows what the rest of the Order might think – they might even suspect him of being a spy. He clutches Kylo tighter. “Everyone has a past,” he says, soothingly. “I’ve only ever known you as Kylo Ren and that’s who you are to me. That’s who you are to the world. One day we’ll defeat the Resistance and wipe all links to Ben off the face of the Galaxy. I’ll destroy anyone who remembers you by that name.”

 

Kylo is silent for a good long while and Hux just holds him as his body shudders.

 

“Thank you,” Kylo says, after a good long while. “Hux, thank you. I’m sorry to have woken you, I just-”

 

Hux hushes him. “Come to me at any time – I mean that.”

 

“Thank you,” Kylo repeats.

 

Falling asleep, Hux feels more at peace than he has in his entire life.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kylo sleeps in his quarters every night after that. Kylo has nightmares almost every night and Hux grows used Kylo nudging him awake in search of comfort. Days later, Hux finds some of Kylo’s things have been moved into his room.

 

“It’s alright, isn’t it?” Kylo asks when he finds Hux inspecting the second toothbrush that has appeared next to his.

 

“Of course.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hux is surprised the first time Kylo comms him during a shift but he gives Mitaka the bridge and goes to find Kylo. He’s an important asset to the Order – the most important in the Supreme Leader’s eyes – so it’s not a shirking of duty.

 

“I can’t find Skywalker!” Kylo says, when Hux enters, and Hux can feel irritation coming off him in waves. “I need to meditate but I just can’t seem to settle!”

 

“What do you need?”

 

“I want to be inside you,” Kylo says. “Please Hux, I need it. Need to focus.”

 

“Fuck me.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hux feels like Kylo’s anchor as he’s pushed into the mattress, Kylo thrusting into him at a frantic pace. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Beta-shift is almost done and he’s almost made it and then the comm sounds. How he’s come to dread that sound. More often than not, he can’t make it through a shift without being comm-ed but he goes running every time.

 

Rubbing his eyes, he answers. Kylo is this close to finding the Scavenger Girl, apparently. He just needs Hux to help focus his anger. Hux agrees and stifles a yawn as he tells the rest of the crew that he’s needed on urgent business. Kylo woke him last night to tell him about a nightmare he’d had about her and Hux had spun an elaborate revenge scenario with his words until Kylo settled back to sleep.

 

He’s used to working with little sleep but he feels so tired that he can’t help but wonder if the Force can be used to leech life energy and immediately feels guilty for even thinking it.

 

It’s not Kylo’s fault he needs him now. It’ll better when they defeat the Resistance, once and for all.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

These days, whenever Kylo smashes a console or chokes an officer, they call Hux right away.

 

He hears whispers that he’s Kylo Ren’s _handler._

The notion is as thrilling as it is distasteful.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hux’s comm goes off in the middle of his shift and he knows who it is without having to look.

 

“Finish your shift afternoon early,” Kylo wheedles, as soon as Hux accepts the call. “I feel like I never see you.”

 

“I really can’t today, Kylo – it’s just been announced that my father is coming in for a visit,” says Hux, gearing himself up for the argument.

 

What comes is worse. “That’s fine,” says Kylo.

 

The air feels incredibly sour, even over the commlink. He waits for Kylo to say something else and finds himself rushing to fill the space when nothing is forthcoming. “I don’t like it any more than you do but his visit is _important_. He will expect me to spend time with him.”

 

“Must be nice to have such a good relationship with your father.”

 

Maybe he hasn’t stabbed his father through the heart with a lightsaber but Hux has never considered his relationship with his father good and for a moment it strikes him as odd that Kylo doesn’t know that. He pushes aside the urge to tell him, to throw it back in his face. Kylo doesn’t need to see him like that. Confessing that his father has always made him feel weak and inferior for his illegitimacy will only shatter Kylo’s image of him and then where will they be?

 

“I’ll come to you after he leaves. Don’t comm me whilst he’s here – I won’t be able to answer,” Hux says, killing the connection before Kylo has the chance to argue back. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hux’s quarters are empty when the day is done. Anxiety settles like a weight in his stomach. Kylo _should_ be here. He’s always here when he’s not training. Has he been called away by the Supreme Leader? Not likely. Hux considers using the time to catch up on some work but he finds himself too distracted. His father’s words are echoing around his head and all Hux wants is to lose himself Kylo.

 

His feet carry him to Kylo’s quarters seemingly of their own accord.

 

“Are you leaving me?” he blurts, upon spotting Kylo lounging on the bed, arms crossed in front of his chest.

 

Kylo’s jaw is set but he shakes his head.

 

“You could have comm-ed me to let me know you weren’t going to be there when I got back,” Hux spits, the words flying off his tongue before he has the chance to stop himself.

 

“I thought you didn’t want me to comm you – I thought you were busy with your father,” Kylo spits the last word and Hux can’t tell if it’s him he’s angry with or whether it’s just a habit formed from talking about Solo.

 

Hux’s head feels foggy. He had wanted that but the lack of communication hadn’t felt like a break but rather a resentful and pointed silence. Perhaps he’s just gotten too used to Kylo’s incessant calls that he doesn’t know how to deal with their absence. “I did say that…”

 

“How was he, then? Your father?”

 

_Beastly_ , Hux wants to say. As usual his father had found fault with everything, from his (impeccable) uniform to his command strategies. That Hux was ahead of schedule in his construction of a second Starkiller was of no matter to him - _the point is, my boy, Starkiller should never have been destroyed in the first place._ (The worst part of it was that he wasn’t wrong.) He crosses his arms in front of his chest. He feels small, un-armoured. It’s the perfect time to go on the offence. “Fine,” he says, fixing his eyes on Kylo. “But I would have rather been here with you.” It’s not a lie.

 

“Didn’t really feel like that,” Kylo mumbles, before adding in sharper tones: “I smashed up a console in the beta sector – just so you don’t hear from someone else.”

 

A sudden warmth blooms in Hux’s chest. He steps forward and puts his hand to Kylo’s face, lifting his chin up so that their eyes are level. “It’s alright. Thank you for confessing – I know this has been hard on you.”

 

Kylo melts into his arms, burying his face into Hux’s neck. Hux resists the instinct to step back to compensate for the sudden assault of Kylo’s seemingly boneless form. He winces as he feels his muscles strain but he stays upright. “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright,” he whispers.

 

There are some muffled sounds up against his shoulder. Kylo is weeping. “I’m sorry. It’s just – everyone leaves me. Please tell me you won’t leave me.”

 

“I won’t leave you.”

 

Again, it’s not a lie: he’s not even sure he knows how to leave Kylo now.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Supreme Leader,” says Hux, greeting the hologram. “What commands do you have for us?”

 

“I will get to the point quickly. It has come to my attention that the two of you have become _involved_. This ends now.”

 

“You told me once that I wasn’t bound by the same rules of the Jedi!” Kylo blurts out, like the words had just been resting behind his teeth, desperate to escape. “You said that I was free to take a lover…”

 

“Not him,” the Supreme Leader says, pointing at Hux. “You can have any other lover but not him. We need him for our cause.”

 

The feeling of being talked about as though he’s not in the room is loathsomely familiar. His father had so frequently discussed him and his progress (or lack thereof) with other former-Imperials, whilst Hux sat and pretended not to care. Still, it left him with a good pazaak face.

 

“We’re stronger together,” protests Kylo, gesturing wildly. “I have only grown more focused, more in control, being with him.”

 

“I don’t doubt that for a minute.” The Supreme Leader’s tone is oddly dry. “But I will repeat myself one last time: find someone else. I hope that you will not make me repeat myself again, apprentice.”

 

“Yes, master,” says Kylo, bowing his head respectfully.

 

Snoke’s hologram blinks out.

 

Kylo grasps Hux’s hand. “I’m not going to give you up. Don’t worry – we’ll be together, whether he wants it or not.” He gives a strange laugh.

 

“We can’t disobey orders from the Supreme Leader,” Hux says and he hates how limp the excuse sounds. He loves Kylo but something in his bones is screaming ‘escape route’ and has been ever since the Supreme Leader had started speaking.  

 

There’s a glint in Kylo’s eyes. “Don’t you worry – I’ve got a plan.”

 

The words are like a jolt of electric to Hux’s spine. “What plan?”

 

“I can’t tell you right away; I need make some preparations. I’ll meet you in your quarters at 1800 hours.”

 

“I’m scheduled for a shift,” Hux objects, though he knows that it will be overturned.

 

“Reschedule it. In fact, take the entire week off.” Kylo says it, as though it were as easy as all that.

 

“A week! I can’t just take a week off at such short notice. In case, you haven’t noticed the Order needs me. Preparations would have to be made-” he starts before Kylo silences him with a finger to the lips. Hux resists the urge to bite it. He _hates_ being interrupted.

 

“I need you more.” Kylo’s other hand is on the back of Hux’s neck and he’s running his fingers over the short hairs at the nape. “I know your men are well trained. They can do without you for a short while because of what you have taught them. This is more important.”

 

His heart catches, as it always does when Kylo tells him he needs him. “I’ll take tonight’s shift off. I’ll see what you have to say and then I’ll decide,” he concedes.

 

A good general should always consider the options in light of all the information, he tells himself, as he walks away.

 

It still feels like a defeat.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The lights are low when he arrives at his quarters. There’s a glow that’s most unusual and he suspects a lighting malfunction until he rounds the corner and realises that Kylo has set out candles of all things around the room – as part of some kind of Dark Side ritual perhaps? He has somehow managed to move Hux’s desk – Hux’s desk which had been nailed down for the sake of safety in the case of an attack – to the middle of the room and had put a chair either side, one of which he is sitting on.

 

Kylo’s face lights up when he sees him and Hux has to admit that does look exceptionally beautiful in the soft, golden light. He stands up, running over to him. Kylo presses a kiss to his cheek. He takes Hux’s arm and Hux lets himself be steered into the chair opposite Kylo’s.

 

Hux scans the table, taking in the glasses already half-filled with red wine and the baffling candles. “Kylo, what _is_ this?”

 

“Try the wine,” Kylo says and Hux is sure that he must be stalling.

 

Hux leans over and takes Kylo’s glass. He swirls the wine and notes the imprint of Kylo’s mouth already on the glass. Satisfied, he takes a sip. The wine is surprisingly sweet against his tongue. Putting the glass down, sharply, he returns his attention to Kylo as if to say ‘now, get on with it.’

 

A smile tugs at Kylo’s lips. “You never do anything the normal way, do you?” From him, it sounds more like praise than a criticism. “Alright, I’ll get on with it. Armitage Hux, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I would be honoured if you would agree to spend the rest of your life with me. Marry me and we can create a bond that not even Snoke can break. We can be together for eternity, even in death.”

 

Hux had barely heard anything after the use of his given name, his body freezing automatically at the sound of it. Only his father ever calls him that. The cold, analytical part of his mind is surprised that Kylo even knows it. Hux has never spoken of it to him. How does he know it?

 

“Hux?” prompts Kylo.

 

Hux blinks and he realises that Kylo is looking at him, waiting for an answer of some sort. He looks on the verge of tears. Hux’s brain catches up all of a sudden and he realises in a rush that Kylo has just proposed. It almost doesn’t help because he’s not prepared a response to this situation. It’s completely thrown him.  

 

“Say something,” Kylo prompts. He looks desperate now.

 

Hux realises that there’s an easy answer lying right in front of him, the answer that Kylo so clearly wants. He finds himself saying ‘yes.’ 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Time passes in a blur; Kylo escorts him to a shuttle and they end up on some backwater planet, rushed to the ceremony without Hux having so much as the time to ask exactly where they are. Kylo has prepared everything. He says ‘yes’ again and a ring is placed upon his finger.

 

That’s it then.

 

Kylo takes him to a house and he strips Kylo of his clothes. They spend hours tangled in the sheets and Kylo touches him with such reverence that Hux begins to think that maybe that things have worked out for the best.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He wakes in the middle of the night to a space on the other side of the bed where Kylo should be. Switching on a light, Hux hauls himself out of bed to explore the accommodations. Kylo’s not in the refresher, nor the living room, nor any part of the house it seems. Mild concern gives way to genuine worry now. If something was wrong, surely Kylo would have woken him? He has never hesitated to before.

 

Eyes bleary, he climbs back into bed and considers the possibilities. Betrayal is an obvious one but he dismisses it outright: he’s given Kylo everything he wanted.   Kylo needs him. No, this is probably some Force related incident. Exhaustion washes over him in waves and he finds himself sprawling his limbs out across the bed. He loathes the idea of just waiting for Kylo to return but he has no other choice – he doesn’t even know where he is. The brief thought that Kylo might be expecting him to try to find him flits through his mind but he finds himself too tired to entertain it properly.

 

He’ll think about it in the morning…

 

 

* * *

 

 

A shadow looming over him wakes him abruptly. His heart pounds as he reaches instinctively for a blaster that isn’t there, bolting up…

 

“Relax, General,” says Kylo, sounding incredibly amused.

 

Hux lets out a breath, heart slowing as he realises where he is – or rather, where he isn’t. At the Academy, a shadow looming over one’s bed meant a beating (at best) if you didn’t respond quick enough. “Where have you been?” His tone sounds neutral to his own ears; he hopes it does to Kylo too.

 

“I’ve brought you a wedding day gift,” says Kylo, eyes bright. He’s practically bouncing up and down on the bed, all sparkling with energy.

 

Hux smiles, indulgently. He doesn’t know what to expect but it’s endearing to see Kylo so happy and excited for a change. “What is it?”

 

“Close your eyes.”

 

Hux feels the urge to roll his eyes at this childish game but nevertheless obeys and closes them tight.

 

He can hear Kylo’s footsteps echoing as he exits the room, goes into another, and comes back in again. There’s a slight rustling sound and then a sudden weight on his lap and an overwhelming smell…Hux retches and his eyes fly open. He flinches back as he’s confronted by the sight of a severed head placed carelessly atop his knee. He retches again, the scent of fresh death filling his nostrils. He finds himself compelled to look back, despite every instinct telling him not to. It takes his brain a little while to process what he had subconsciously understood: this is not just any severed head.

 

It is the head of Supreme Leader Snoke.

 

Supreme Leader Snoke is dead.

 

Supreme Leader Snoke is dead because Kylo Ren has killed him.

 

Perhaps he should be glad but he can’t deny the lead-like weight that settles in his stomach. Hux’s eyes fly to Kylo’s face, searching for an answer there. Kylo is beaming at him. It’s not a cruel smile; his expression is nothing but pure joy. Hux feels like he might actually be sick. The head feels unnaturally heavy against his legs, pinning him to the bed. There’s no strength left in his limbs.

 

“I forgot you don’t often see bodies,” Kylo says, lightly. He presses a kiss to Hux’s unflinching cheek. “You’re too wrapped up in your battle simulations.”

 

Hux says nothing, all possible words seem to die in his throat. His tongue is dry in his mouth.

 

Kylo lifts up the head as though it were less than nothing. In his large hands, it looks lighter than air. “I’ll take this away. We don’t need it anymore. We’re free – you and me.”

 

He’s true to his word, taking the head away with him, back into the other room. Hux stares blankly into space, spinning his wedding band round and round on his finger as he hears nothing but the sound of boards creaking under Kylo’s weight. There’s a part of his mind, the pragmatic part that he can’t ever turn off, that’s considering the strategic advantages of Snoke’s demise. Kylo is so much more invested in him than Snoke ever was. His position is far more assured.

 

He suspects that Kylo will make him Emperor without him so much as having to ask. Pushing aside the covers, he wanders over to the mirror to look at himself: a free man, a married man. He gazes at his reflection and imagines how a crown might look upon his head. There’s another creek. He jumps in his skin and feels silly for it - it’s just his husband returning to him. His eyes fly back to mirror and it strikes him how thin he looks. Not an Emperor at all.

 

Just a weak-willed boy.

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being kind of different to what I had originally intended but at least I didn’t kill Hux off, which was what I was going to do before I realised I’ve already killed him twice and I just couldn’t find the will to do it again. It’s a bit of a strange take on Kylux (and definitely not my usual) but hopefully it was interesting to read?
> 
> I would really appreciate any comments on this! :)


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